Ottawa City Manager Steve Kanellakos told the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) on Monday that Freedom Convoy protesters never fulfilled their end of the deal to move trucks out of residential neighbourhoods, which was a condition to meet with Mayor Jim Watson, but protesters’ representatives counter that police never allowed the move.
“They never fulfilled their end of the bargain, so he never met with them,” said Kanellakos, the most senior public servant at the city.
Kanellakos had been involved from the start in an effort initiated by protesters to enter into negotiations with the city.
He said the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) Police Liaison Team (PLT) told him on Feb. 8 that communications had broken down with the protesters, which significantly impacted their ability to negotiate and work on the ground.
The PLT implored Kanellakos to meet with the protesters “because they needed to show that they could actually get me to the table to have a conversation with them,” he said.
Kanellakos said he presented the issue to Watson but he was “very reluctant,” saying it would put some pressure on the federal government to also meet with the protesters.
Kanellakos decided to go forward and told Watson something could be obtained in return, and him taking care of it as a public servant would shield the political leadership.
Freedom Convoy spokesperson Tom Marazzo and Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) lawyers Keith Wilson and Eva Chipiuk met with Kanellakos later that same day and started negotiations on moving trucks out of the residential neighbourhoods.
Kanellakos told the commission he wasn’t told by the representatives why they sought a meeting with Watson, but he gave his interpretation.
“I assume that it was a symbolic, significant gesture. No one was meeting with them of any official capacity at the political level. I assumed the mayor was the first step in trying to open the door to meet with the Prime Minister, someone senior at the federal government,” said Kanellakos.
He said the agreement was concluded on Feb. 12 and a logistical meeting occurred on Feb. 13 between the city, the OPS, and protesters’ representatives.
Ready to Fulfill
Marazzo and Wilson have pushed back on Kanellakos’ testimony that protesters didn’t fulfill their end of the deal of moving trucks out of residential neighbourhoods.“That statement is not true and after the [Emergencies Act] was enacted it didn’t matter. However, we were always prepared to fulfill this agreement but the police routinely blocked us from actually moving,” Marazzo told The Epoch Times.
Wilson also told The Epoch Times the deal “never fell part” and that police were preventing the movement of trucks, which he attributed to a “major communication breakdown” between the different police forces assigned to the protest.
“The truckers were always ready, willing, and able to honour the deal and move the trucks but the police kept shutting down the moves,” says Wilson.
Wilson provided screenshots of text messages he exchanged with Kanellakos and Watson’s chief of staff, Serge Arpin.
At noon on Feb. 14, Wilson told Kanellakos that “Trucks are ready to move but are being blocked by police.”
“I’m fixing that. We are allowing 10 trucks now as sign of good faith,” replied Kanellakos.
Wilson told Arpin on Feb. 15 that protesters were willing to move over 40 trucks from residential areas to Wellington St. in front of Parliament, which would almost clear out those areas.
He said moving trucks during that morning had been stopped because police thought it was only a 24 hour movement and that window had closed.
“The new chief sent out the message to his troops that there would be no movements today,” said Wilson.
Then OPS chief Peter Sloly resigned on Feb. 15 and was replaced by Steve Bell.
Kanellakos told the commission at that time police were preparing for tactical operations to remove protesters, which could have impacted the agreement to move the trucks.
The Public Order Emergency Commission public hearing started on Oct. 13 and will last until Nov. 25.
The commission will seek to determine whether invoking the Emergencies Act was necessary to clear cross-border protests and blockades demanding the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.
